Editing Bunhill Fields (section)

===William Blake===
[[William Blake]] died in August 1827 and was buried in the northern part of the burial ground. His wife, [[Catherine Blake|Catherine Sophia]], died in October 1831 and was buried in a separate grave on the south side of the ground. By the 20th century, Blake's grave was in disrepair; and in 1927, for the centenary of his death and at a time when his reputation was on the rise, a new headstone was commissioned. As it had been decided to commemorate both William and Catherine, despite the fact that the headstone would stand at some distance from Catherine's grave, the inscription was phrased as "Near by lie the remains of ...". When Bunhill Fields was relandscaped in the 1960s, Blake's grave lay in the area that was to be cleared of monuments. The headstone was therefore moved approximately 20&nbsp;metres (yards) to its present location, next to the monument to Daniel Defoe. It was also rotated through 90°, so that it now faces south rather than west.<ref>{{National Heritage List for England |num=1396493 |desc=Monument to William and Catherine Sophia Blake, Central Broadwalk |access-date=28 June 2014}}</ref> [[Joseph Swain (poet)|Joseph Swain]]'s headstone was added to the grouping at the same time, although that faces west.<ref name="nhle"/> Flowers, coins and other [[Votive offering|tokens]] are regularly left by visitors to Blake's headstone.

In 2006–07, members of the group The Friends of William Blake established the original location of his grave, and proposed placing a new memorial there.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://friendsofblake.com/ |title=Cause For Celebration: The Location of William Blake's Grave discovered! |publisher=The Friends of William Blake |access-date=29 June 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140531072145/http://www.friendsofblake.com/ |archive-date=31 May 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref> In the form of a [[ledger stone]], with lettering by [[Lida Lopes Cardozo Kindersley|Lida Cardozo Kindersley]], this was finally unveiled on 12 August 2018 by [[Philip Pullman]], President of the Blake Society.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2018/aug/11/how-amateur-sleuths-finally-tracked-down-burial-place-william-blake |title=How amateur sleuths finally tracked down the burial place of William Blake |date=11 August 2018 |work=The Guardian |access-date=11 August 2018}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.thetimes.com/culture/books/article/blake-s-final-stop-on-the-road-to-jerusalem-is-recognised-at-last-gdfvx2jm2 |title=William Blake's final stop on the road to Jerusalem is recognised at last |date=23 July 2018 |work=[[The Times]]|location=London|access-date=11 August 2018}}</ref>

<gallery widths="240px" heights="170px" class="center" caption="">
File:Finsbury bunhill blake 1.jpg|1927 headstone to William and Catherine Sophia Blake
File:Bunhill Blake 2018.jpg|2018 ledger stone on William Blake's grave
</gallery>